How did you smoke your tail lights? I'm looking to smoke mine (similar to yours) but not enough to look dark.

The tint shop I send all my cars to sells a special film specifically for "smoking" the tail light lenses and things like the reflector in front. I just called my tint shop and they said it's called Oracal 8300. Comes in different shades (I actually got the darkest shade). It goes on just like tint, but it's thicker than tint and can withstand the outside weather changes (contraction and expansion). It's not easy, but this can also be removed if needed. Much better than painting which I've seen in the past where they have to sand the lens and then the paint is permanent. You would have to buy all new lenses if they got jacked or you didn't like them any more.

Looks like the JB4 setup is the way to go for me. That'll be my next mod. The forum comes through again especially that sticky thread in the tuning section. Big help there.

As far as the coils, plugs, walnut shell cleaning, injectors etc... I bought a CPO. shouldn't that all have been taken care prior to my purchase?

Since your CPO, I would personally go with COBB just because its an actual flash not a piggyback andof how easy it is to uninstall before going to a dealer and UNDETECTABLE at DEALERS, dont listen to anyone that tells you otherwise. BUT unless it goes to BMW NA for a PUMA case ur screwed but thats rare.. with JB4 you gotta mess with wires and all but its pretty impressive, im not hating..

As for CPO covering plugs, injectors coils etc it really depends. A lot of times the car will misfire only with the tune because its a higher load. once you remove your tune and go back to stock your car might run perfect and the dealer wont notice anything out of the ordinary.

For example, recently my car started misfiring only with the tune installed and i replace plugs and coils myself which was inexpensive at ECS and easy to do.
had it been an injector i would be pissed

Since your CPO, I would personally go with COBB just because its an actual flash not a piggyback andof how easy it is to uninstall before going to a dealer and UNDETECTABLE at DEALERS, dont listen to anyone that tells you otherwise. BUT unless it goes to BMW NA for a PUMA case ur screwed but thats rare.. with JB4 you gotta mess with wires and all but its pretty impressive, im not hating..

As for CPO covering plugs, injectors coils etc it really depends. A lot of times the car will misfire only with the tune because its a higher load. once you remove your tune and go back to stock your car might run perfect and the dealer wont notice anything out of the ordinary.

For example, recently my car started misfiring only with the tune installed and i replace plugs and coils myself which was inexpensive at ECS and easy to do.
had it been an injector i would be pissed

good luck

Thanks for the suggestion. After looking at the COBB setup and being that I have the CPO, but it seems reasonable to go the COBB route even if means spending a little more (actually twice more) than the JB4

Car looks good man! I actually like the wheels, and if you do then don't worry about a thing..Unless you change everything on your car to matte black someone will complain about something on this board! Cheers

I like the ride height. It looks pretty conservative for the coil overs. Do you know your measurements on the V1s?

Normally I would do my own suspension install, but since I know very little about BMW's I didn't want to screw something up and deferred to my BMW mechanic. He set it up just lower than a stock RWD 335i based on what I wanted for ride quality. I can call him up and find out if you like.

Normally I would do my own suspension install, but since I know very little about BMW's I didn't want to screw something up and deferred to my BMW mechanic. He set it up just lower than a stock RWD 335i based on what I wanted for ride quality. I can call him up and find out if you like.

No don't go out of your way. Are there some guidelines when setting them on the install? Or is it just adjust it to your liking? Thanks.

Hello fellow BMW enthusiasts. I've been lurking on the forum here for awhile and decided I would at least introduce myself since I was able to use this forum as a great research tool and read some pretty interesting opinions out there about all the different versions of the E9x.

As you can see my username is vwman which I have been a classic air-cooled vw collector and restorer for almost 20 years. Hard to give up old loves. I have a small stable of old and rare VW's and was looking to venture into the new all wheel drive Golf -R. I rolled down to the VW dealer and test drove one. Man, I have to tell you what rocket that thing was just stock. I was nearly sold right then and there. It was just such a blast to drive. Then something tapped me on the shoulder and made me look right across the street of the auto mall at the BMW dealer. I was driving an old 2001 Acura CL type-S which I bought brand new and although I really liked the car after I modded the hell out of I was thinking to myself I have always wanted a rear wheel drive sports car and I have always wanted to check out a BMW. First thing I did was head over to the M3, but the cost was prohibitive and my wife gave me the "you are not getting that thing" look. She didn't even want me getting the Golf-R for fear that I would wrap that thing around something or go broke paying traffic tickets. Happy wife happy life right? Anyway, even though the new '14 335i's were out I just wasn't feeling the sedans and I didn't want to dive into the 4-series this soon.

Then I saw it. A 2009 335i x-drive. exactly 40K mi. It was immaculate. Whoever owned this thing previously babied the hell out of it. There seriously wasn't a flaw and being a car guy I went over this thing with a fine tooth comb. Took it for a test drive and within 3 hours I was driving this thing home. I have without a doubt drank the BMW Kool-aid. I fricking love this thing and as a bonus the wife is satisfied with the decision.

I knew I wanted to mod it and knowing virtually nothing about BMW's other than car magazines, I started looking and found this forum. Found my info and went to work. First thing I did was get the tint, the tail lights and reflector on the front bumper smoked. Then it was time for some minor cosmetics. I thought it needed a chin implant and an ass lift so I gave it some plastic surgery with the m-tech front spoiler and the M3 style rear spoiler which my body guy matched flawlessly. I knew I also wanted a larger rim than stock. The dealer had these nice M3 chrome rims sitting in the boutique and when I inquired about them, the parts manager said that they had ordered them for another customer and the customer argued that they had ordered the wrong wheels and backed out on the deal. He wanted them gone so he made me a slammin' deal on them.

I was noticing that even after the larger wheels the x-drive was still sitting like a 4x4, so once again I turned to the forum and proceeded to fit my new child up with a set of KW v1 coilovers. What a difference! Absolutely the perfect choice. Last, but not least I wasn't that happy with the yellow angel eyes and so once again back to the forum. Installed the LUX angel eyes H8 V4 set at 5700K. Another perfect choice. Thanks forum users for all the great info. I'm really happy with the performance of the car as is. I'm looking to see about some performance mods, but don't want to get crazy. I'm thinking about the GAIC software update and would like to hear your thought plus any other thoughts about useful, but not too extreme mods. I get the impression that an air intake is a waste of time and I'm not going to track the car. I live in Northern California so this will be used on nice twisty mountain highways along with the occasional stomp of the pedal down the I-5 or the I-80.

All the best, Brian

REALLY like your car - including the chrome rims! I have that same rim now (not chrome) on my E60 5 Msport and also had that rim on my e46 zhp. Mtech front is the way to go and love the exterior color and tint.

Car looks very nice the wheels are a bit blingy some 20mm spacers in back and some 15 in front would make it look a lot better imo

So followed the info on how to size up for picking spacers and I'm not sure how spacers are going to work based on what I'm seeing. The fronts are even with the fender and the backs are just tucked under. It is super close and I'm worried about rubbing. Plus, I don't want it looking like a frog if the wheels extend past the fenders

Thanks for the suggestion. After looking at the COBB setup and being that I have the CPO, but it seems reasonable to go the COBB route even if means spending a little more (actually twice more) than the JB4

yeah man its expensive but worth it. you wont regret it. and COBB has the best customer service. also you can get a custom tune for the cobb with protuning freaks which make cobb makes look like crap lol

I figured most people wouldn't be crazy about the chrome. Maybe it's that I've been in the older vintage cars scene too long where chrome was the thing. I like it though. They were far better than the stock painted 17" 10 spokes that were on there originally and I couldn't turn down the price. They practically gave them to me for free. Now I know why lol.

From what understand I guess not M3 although I've seen some older M3's with these wheels. These were supposed to be off a 5-series

I'm usually not a fan of chrome wheels much either, but with the color of your car, and the tint on the windows and rear lights, it all looks good.

I think your tech nailed the ride height perfectly (possibly ever so slightly low in the back) but that would be nit picking. Beautiful car, I love the rims. JB4/Cobb/OFT all good, all perform. Don't let anyone tell you that flashing the computer is undetectable, not true. It's only a matter of how hard the dealer or manufacturer wants to look and is only a problem if it becomes a problem. The old adage is mod at your own risk.